A federal appellate panel on Tuesday refused to block President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to restrict mail voting, a day after the administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the proposal in a separate case.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a May ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols that said an injunction against the order was premature. Nichols ruled that the Democrats and voting rights groups who challenged the order couldn't seek the injunction until the Trump administration issued formal regulations governing it. The administration started releasing those directives days later.
The circuit court panel, with two judges appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama and one by Trump, found that was proper and there were no noted dissents. But the unsigned decision noted that if the administration truly tried to force such changes in the few months remaining before November's midterm election, it may well get halted by courts.
"The action the Order contemplates would involve the President, whom the Constitution vests with no express authority over the conduct of elections, undertaking a substantial and unfunded overhaul of election procedures — including the implementation of a nationwide reform to Postal Service mail-handling processes —on the threshold of the November election. Put differently, the Order 'may not prove feasible to implement in any manner whatsoever,'" said the ruling, quoting a prior legal opinion.
In a separate case filed by Democratic state officials, a federal judge in Massachusetts last month blocked the executive order from taking effect for this year's elections because it was already forcing states, which are granted the power under the U.S. Constitution to control their own elections, to revise their procedures on the fly. That ruling was upheld on Saturday by a Boston-based appeals court and then was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday by the Trump administration.

#order

Former US President Barack Obama unknowingly gave Angel Reese a reality check.
The 2026 WNBA All-Star Game is being held in Chicago as fans line up to watch the likes of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in action.
Since the All-Star weekend is in Chicago, former US President Barack Obama is actively involved in the event because of his deep love for the game of basketball.
John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
With the All-Star weekend kicking off, players from around the country landed in Chicago, including Atlanta Sky star Angel Reese.

#reese #obama

Brett McGurk is a CNN global affairs ****** yst who served in senior national security positions under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Wars often end somewhere different from where they begin.
The current conflict with Iran has been plagued by ill-defined and shifting objectives, from aspirations of regime change to more focused aims of degrading Iran's nuclear and military capabilities.
Nearly six months in, it has evolved into something else entirely: a struggle over who controls the Strait of Hormuz and, with it, one of the world's most important arteries for global energy. Iran has demonstrated both the capability and willingness to target commercial shipping passing through the strait unless conducted under rules Tehran prescribes.
The US – and much of the world, including all the Gulf states adjacent to the strait – has rightly deemed that unacceptable.

#strait #bush #obama

Barack Obama encourages Caitlin Clark ahead of WNBA All-Star Game: 'Don't let all this nonsense get you down' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
While she is a bona fide star in the WNBA, controversy comes with life as a star for Caitlin Clark. Former U.S. President Barack Obama made sure to let the Indiana Fever star know she was doing a great job and not to "let all this nonsense get you down."
The Fever had a difficult start to the season, but have recently picked it up and lead the East with a 17-10 record.
Situations both on and off the court have wiggled their way into Clark's life as a star, and she's been forced to deal with more than anticipated.
Here's what the former U.S. president said to the three-time WNBA All-Star.

#barack #clark #sporting

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said her Democratic Senate primary race was "a racist race" in an interview published Wednesday and argued she didn't need to campaign with her former opponent and the party's nominee, James Talarico.
Crockett said at the Essence Festival alongside the hosts of the "Native Land" podcast that the best thing she could do for former primary foe Talarico was to endorse Black candidates down ballot so more Black voters turn out in November.
"The best thing that I can do is take down-ballot candidates who no one's ever heard of and do my best to uplift them and increase the voter participation in a way that we did in Texas," she said.
"You see, a lot of haters got a lot of things to say about me and my race and how I ran it," Crockett continued. "But the reality is that there was a lot of racist, not a lot, it was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is, right? But we live in America as y'all are celebrating 250. OK? We know what this country is. But let me tell you the facts. There is no race that turned out more people to vote ever in the state of Texas except for Barack [Obama] and Hillary [Clinton]."
Watch: Obama, Harris Advisor Warns 'Betrayed' Black Voters Could Be Texas Senate Candidate's Kryptonite

The WNBA will host several All-Star weekend activities at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago later this month, becoming the first professional sports league to christen the newly opened venue.
According to a WNBA news release, several of the All-Star break’s premier events — including media day and team practice — will be held July 24 at the center’s 60,000-square-foot athletic building. The center will also host Jr. WNBA Day, a day of athletic programming geared toward Chicago’s youth, and WNBA Changemaker Day, a community-centered leadership event that highlights a collaboration among the Chicago Sky, Obama Foundation and other local and corporate sponsors.
“Hosting AT&T WNBA All-Star events at the Obama Presidential Center is a true honor and reflects our commitment to creating connection through basketball and engaging communities in meaningful ways,” commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring together the WNBA family and the greater Chicago community to create memorable experiences at this historic new venue.”
The center, which honors Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, sits on just over 19 acres of the iconic Jackson Park, making it one of two host sites for All-Star activities on Chicago’s South Side. The 3-point contest and skills challenge will take place at Wintrust Arena, home of the Sky, in the South Loop area July 24. Although the All-Star Game itself will tip off at the United Center on July 25, the downtown arena where the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks play, the weekend’s marquee events will be held at different locations to bring the WNBA to more fans — and fans-to-be.
“We are thrilled to welcome the WNBA as our first professional sports league hosted at the Obama Presidential Center,” Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said in a statement. “At the Center, we believe sports have the power to bring people together and create meaningful opportunities to build the next generation of leaders.”

An $850 million facility, the Obama Presidential Center opened less than a month ago on the South Side of Chicago as the public home of former President Barack Obama’s legacy.
One if the many features in the sparkling new venue is a 60,000-square foot athletic building called “Home Court.”
And, later this month, women’s basketball players are moving in.
The WNBA announced Wednesday it will be using the Obama Presidential Center for several events during its All-Star Weekend in Chicago, including practices and media day.
"Hosting AT&T WNBA All-Star events at the Obama Presidential Center is a true honor and reflects our commitment to creating connection through basketball and engaging communities in meaningful ways," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. "We're excited to bring together the WNBA family and the greater Chicago community to create memorable experiences at this historic new venue."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday posted a falsified image of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, waving before boarding an Air Force One that had been spray-painted with graffiti.
It came months after another racist post by the president that showed the couple as primates in a jungle. That one was deleted after stiff, bipartisan backlash.
The latest image shows the Obamas smiling and waving at the top of stairs alongside a baby blue and white presidential plane with graffiti painted on it that included the Democrat's campaign slogan "Yes We Can," "Obama" and "BLM," short for Black Lives Matter. The post also shows graffiti in Arabic on the plane that says the phrase "alhamdulillah," which means "praise be to God" or "thank God."
The use of graffiti is a coded message to remind people of crime and urban decay and has been used in racist messaging against Black people in the past.
Trump has a yearslong record of intensely personal criticism of the Obamas, and of using incendiary, sometimes racist, rhetoric. That includes everything from feeding the lie that Obama was not born in the United States to crude generalizations about majority-Black countries and posts that have sparked anger on his Truth Social website.

President Donald Trump suggested during Friday's episode of "Storytime with the Second Lady" podcast that former presidents should have a reunion with him at the White House to watch football.
As Trump flipped to a page showing a president hosting a live viewing of the Super Bowl at the White House, he told second lady Usha Vance that it gave him an idea.
"Maybe I should invite Barack Hussein Obama, Joe Biden, with the Bushes — or Bush. Maybe I should invite some of those people to watch a football game together," he suggested. "Wouldn't that be a nice story? The press would go wild."

An Iranian political scientist once accused by the feds of working as an unregistered influence agent for Tehran has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against FIFA, ******* ociation president Gianni Infantino, and an unknown number of anonymous FIFA officials after the nation's World Cup team was eliminated from competition by a controversial on-field call.
Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi, who, among other things, served as an official adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiation team when talks were underway with former president Barack Obama, is petitioning for class-action status on behalf of up to 91 million "Iranian nationals and/or Iranian-Americans who supported the Iran football national team and who were emotionally scarred by the flagrant discrimination against their beloved team," according to a civil complaint filed June 30 in federal court.
In it, the 68-year-old Afrasiabi takes issue with FIFA's "double standard, hypocrisy and outright discrimination" against the Iranian squad, which was stripped of a game-winning goal last weekend against Egypt following a video review that determined the scoring player had been offside. As a result of the 1-1 tie, Egypt advanced to the tournament's knock-out stage for the first time ever, while Iran was sent home.
Afrasiabi's complaint contends there exists "[c]lear and incontrovertible" proof that FIFA's "VAR" system, or, Video ******* istant Referee, made an "erroneous" decision "deliberately designed to deprive Iran of victory" in the June 26 match. The move to invalidate the goal by centre-back Shoja Khalilzadeh was immediately "slammed by the Fox Sports commentator [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic as a 'theft' requiring FIFA's apology to Iran, in light of the clear evidence that an Egyptian defender was well behind the Iranian players," according to the complaint.
"In effect, Defendants' actions complained of herein convinced the Plaintiffs and others similarly situated that Iran was 'robbed' of victory and the chance for advancing to the knock-off stage of the World Cup, thus creating a traumatic experience of victimization on their part," the complaint states.

Former President Barack Obama blamed a splintered media landscape for the lack of a second Obama-like political figure emerging on the national stage during an interview on Tuesday.
NBC "Today" co-host Craig Melvin talked to the former president about the new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on his "Glass Half Full" podcast and told him, "You've always represented a lot of different communities, but there has always been this singularity to your story. Earlier this week, one of your former aides was talking on one of these cable shows and said Democrats should stop looking for Obama 2.0. Not gonna happen."
"Do you think in the current climate that someone like you with your background and your story, do you think that you could break through now the same way you did back in '07, '08?" Melvin asked Obama.
"I do think it's harder because of the nature of your business, the media, it's more splintered," Obama said.
Obama Chooses Supporter Stephen Colbert For Debut Interview At Controversial Presidential Center

Nike (NKE) needs a slam dunk quarter on Tuesday to begin reversing one of the worst-looking stock charts in all of retail.
The insight: Nike stock is now trading at more than 11-year lows, per Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data, taking the shares back to a price last seen during the presidency of basketball-loving Barack Obama. The stock is down a startling 36% this year and 43% over the past 12 months.
What's behind the stock move: To prevent further declines, Nike's quarter this week can't look any worse than the one shared three months ago.
The report was littered with red flags as it undergoes a restructuring under CEO Elliott Hill and tougher competition from the likes of Adidas (ADS.DE) and upstarts such as On Holding (ONON).
On top of that, Nike has faced continued pressure on its all-important China business. Sales in China fell 10% from the previous year, with digital sales down 21% and wholesale off by 13%.

As I watched highlights from the recent opening of the Obama Presidential Center, I couldn't help but remember the night I first heard then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) make his pitch to Iowa caucusgoers in 2008.
It was at that moment I understood something truly profound was happening. Obama was charting a new direction in presidential politics. I wanted to be aboard his ship.
Lucky for me, I had two chances to meet Obama before he was elected president. The first was in June 2007, when I spent 45 minutes introducing him to a gathering of 30 prominent Democrats in Orange County. The second was the month before he traveled to Denver to accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008. That's when Obama stopped by the Balboa Bay Club for a major fundraiser.
When it was my turn to have my picture taken with him, he warmly greeted me by saying, "I remember you from last year." I was both thrilled and momentarily speechless.
After the photos were taken, I moved away from Obama's right shoulder, but not before turning back and saying to him, "Senator, we're all counting on you."

One of the more unique aspects of Former President Barack Obama was that he would answer 10 letters from Americans a day. The letters came from around the country and covered just about any topic imaginable. Some of those letters are on display at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago — and in a recent interview, Obama got a video update from one letter writer that prompted an emotional response.
As the former president put it, "That was a setup."
The letter in question was written by a then 7-year-old who'd lost her mother to cancer. Her mom was able to vote for Obama in 2008, just before she died. The president wrote back about the loss of his own mother, who died in 1995.
In the video he shared on social media, Obama gets an update about how the letter writer is doing. "I feel a lot of emotions right now, mainly peace and pride, knowing that my mother's legacy continues to live on not only through myself but now at the Obama Presidential Center," the now 24-year-old Emily said.
"I also feel very grateful to be able to report back 17 years later. And I'm happy to say that I was able to graduate college with a BSN and have since become a registered nurse. I would like to take this opportunity also to thank President Barack Obama for everything he has done, as well as always reminding me to dream big dreams."

Oil prices remain headline-driven, taking direction from escalation and de-escalation in the U.S-Iran conflict in the near term. The first round of talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland has concluded with positive comments from both sides, and an agreement to push for a final agreement within 60 days. However, there's considerable scepticism about whether more complex issues around nuclear technology and transit through the Strait of Hormuz can be fully resolved in the short timeframe. After all, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal in 2015 took ~20 months of formal talks under former U.S. President Barack Obama. Brent crude for August delivery fell 4.79% to trade at $73.39 per barrel at 2.50 pm ET on Wednesday, the lowest settlement price since March 2nd, while the corresponding WTI crude contract was down 4.23% to change hands at $70.11/bbl.
According to commodity ***** ysts at Standard Chartered, the 200-day moving average (at $78.71/bbl on 23 June) has provided a level of support. However, that has proven to be insufficient during oil price selloffs at the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement at $73.74/bbl.
Both crude grades are firmly in oversold territory, with a relative strength index (RSI) of 29.07 for Brent and 28.13 for WTI crude. StanChart reports there has been a sharp rise in confirmed crossings of the Strait of Hormuz, with 71 total transits recorded from 19-21 June. However, these transits remain opportunistic and cautious, with the Strait still vulnerable to short-term closure, particularly after US-Iran rhetoric escalated during the latest round of talks.
Related: U.S. Crude Inventories Post Another Major Draw
While formal announcements around the timeline for normal operations to resume have been limited, the ***** ysts project that oil supply normalization is unlikely to occur before the third quarter of the current year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday in an immigration case dealing with the government's power over green card holders accused of crimes.
The 6-3 decision centers on an immigration officers' 2012 decision to put lawful permanent resident Muk Choi Lau on immigration parole when he returned from a short trip to China because he had been accused of a counterfeiting crime.
Lau argued that the officer overstepped their authority, and the decision wrongly allowed the Department of Homeland Security under then-President Barack Obama an easier path to removal after he pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit clothes in New Jersey.
The high court disagreed. "Border officers did not have the burden to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Lau had committed a crime involving moral turpitude," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that the decision to put Lau on immigration parole effectively sentenced him to "immigration limbo" before he'd been convicted of any crime.

Former President Joe Biden was caught in an awkward moment when he drifted back toward the stage as the dedication ceremony for President Barack Obama's presidential library wrapped up Thursday.
Video shows Biden pulling down his sunglasses and peering into the crowd as his wife, Jill Biden, and Obama exited the stage, leaving him behind.
At one moment, Biden shouted, "where's my granddaughter?'"
A person familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that Biden was searching for his granddaughter, who was sitting in the audience.
Obama Leading Biden Off Stage By The Hand 'Really ****** Me Off,' Hunter Biden Seethes

Former President Joe Biden was caught in an awkward moment when he drifted back toward the stage as the dedication ceremony for President Barack Obama's presidential library wrapped up Thursday.
Video shows Biden pulling down his sunglasses and peering into the crowd as his wife, Jill Biden, and Obama exited the stage, leaving him behind.
At one moment, Biden shouted, "where's my granddaughter?'"
A person familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that Biden was searching for his granddaughter, who was sitting in the audience.
Obama Leading Biden Off Stage By The Hand 'Really ****** Me Off,' Hunter Biden Seethes

CHICAGO — The Obama Presidential Center was billed as a lasting legacy to former President Barack Obama, and its construction was touted as an ambitious model built with aggressive goals for minority-owned and local businesses.
But now, some of the very subcontractors who helped build the 19.3-acre campus on Chicago's South Side say they are facing financial ruin as they race to recover millions of dollars they claim remain unpaid ahead of the center's grand opening Friday. Overall construction costs were reported to be $830 million in 2021, and have likely climbed past the $1 billion mark.
A Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions. The allegations cut against one of the Center's defining goals: helping minority-owned businesses and local contractors grow through one of Chicago's highest-profile construction projects. Several of the complaints reviewed by Fox News Digital come from firms that were supposed to benefit from that mission.
Among them is Adamson Plumbing, whose owner Mike Owen says is nearly $4 million in the red after years of work on the project.
"That is a hole that no subcontractor, small business can survive," Owen said.

There were 3,000 people on the plaza at the June 18 Obama Presidential Center grand opening ceremony, with almost too many celebrities to count.
A-listers in attendance included more than the performers like Marc Anthony and Stevie Wonder who brought the crowd to their feet during the program. Oprah Winfrey, who has a **** e named after her in the museum, was shaking hands with politicians like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau danced in the front row seats down from former Vice President Kamala Harris (though his partner Katy Perry was not in attendance).
John Legend and Jennifer Hudson spent time in the crowd when they weren't on stage, seated not far from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. But former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama stayed on stage with the other living presidents, except for President Donald Trump.
See the celebrities and politicians alike mingling at the grand opening ceremony:
More: 'Democracy can be frustrating,' Obama says at presidential center opening

President Donald Trump will plans to attend Monday’s Game 3 between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the first time a sitting U.S. president attended an NBA game since Barack Obama did so when the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Chicago Bulls, per BBC.
Trump said he’s “been a Knicks fan for a long time,” when he accepted Knicks owner James Dolan’s invitation, adding “I’m also a Jim Dolan fan,” according to The Hill.
The occasion will be the first time a sitting U.S. president attends an NBA Finals.
NYPD News announced “extra security measures” in and around Madison Square Garden so everyone can “enjoy the game safely.”
Extra security is due to the U.S. president’s appearance, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Sunday, including no watch parties outside the historic basketball venue.

A potential peace deal between the United States and Iran hinges on the Trump administration agreeing to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian ******* ets, a top Iranian official told CNN on Friday, warning that the US would "enter into a dark corridor" should it resume fighting.
"The negotiations are at a deadlock and (US President Donald) Trump must break this deadlock," Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran. "The ball is in Trump's court."
Iran has reportedly demanded the release of $12 billion in frozen funds as soon as an interim agreement is signed with the US, and another $12 billion at a later stage.
US officials are concerned that any unfreezing of funds at this stage could remove a key leverage point over the regime. Trump has demanded that any agreement appear far stronger than the nuclear deal struck in 2015, and to avoid anything that could be construed as handing over "pallets of cash," a phrase he has invoked to criticize then-President Barack Obama's decision to give Tehran financial compensation.
In a rare interview with CNN, Rezaei shed light on the thinking inside Iran's strategic decision-making circles about the country's postwar vision, the fate of the Strait of Hormuz and how Iran may act if it is attacked again. His remarks carry weight because he remains closely connected to Iran's security establishment and is widely seen as being close to the current supreme leader, who has not been seen in public since he suffered injuries from an Israeli attack that killed his father on the first day of the war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday indicated that he is willing to take a federal appeals court decision restricting his transgender military ban to the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled that the Trump administration, under a policy implemented by Hegseth last year, is unconstitutionally expelling troops actively serving because they are transgender. The panel, though, allowed the Pentagon to enforce its ban against transgender individuals seeking to enlist.
“See you at SCOTUS,” Hegseth wrote on the social platform X, responding to Fox News reporter Bill Melugin’s post on the ruling.
In Monday’s 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voted that Hegseth’s order to expel transgender service members from the armed forces was motivated by animus against them, and therefore constituted a violation of their constitutional rights.
U.S. Circuit judges Judith Rogers and Robert Wilkins, who were appointed by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, respectively, were in the majority. U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, whom President Trump nominated to the federal appeals court in 2020, voted to let the administration fully enforce its ban.

President Trump attacked the federal judge who blocked his plan to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation in a Truth Social post Saturday, one day after the judge ordered the president's name removed from the building.
In a 94-page opinion issued Friday on what would have been President John F. Kennedy's 109th birthday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sided with Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board. Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, found that the Trump-stacked board overstepped its authority when it voted in December 2025 to rebrand the institution as the "Trump Kennedy Center" and again in March when it approved a closure set to begin around the Fourth of July.
"The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so," Cooper wrote. "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."
Cooper gave the administration 14 days to remove Trump's name from the building's facade, the website and official materials. He did not bar repair work from continuing and said the board could try again to close the venue if it followed the proper process.
In a Saturday morning post, Trump called Cooper "a Barack Hussein Obama Judge" and accused him of standing in the way of a "magnificent" rebuild that he said would have replaced rotting beams, decades-old HVAC equipment and damaged marble. The president also attacked Cooper's wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, claiming she is "totally wired into the Left System" and represents "a Conflict of Interest" that should have forced Cooper to step aside.